Issue 9

For many, forensics
makes us think of handsome detectives who investigate gruesome
murders, using cutting-edge science to arrest the culprit. Whilst
born a little early to be a TV star himself, Edinburgh nurtured a
pioneer of the ‘scientist-detectives’; Sir Sidney Smith.

He arrived from New
Zealand as a student, remained as a professor and went on to become
Dean of Medicine, with a break in between to organise the
medico-legal system of Cairo. His autobiography, Mostly Murder,
vividly describes some of his most acclaimed cases and thoughts about
putting murder under the microscope.
Read more »

The University of Edinburgh is
world-renowned for its medical programme and has a long and
distinguished history of innovation. What people may not be aware of
however are the two unique pathology collections that have played a
role in both medical teaching and research. The first is held at the
University itself, while the other is in the care of the Royal
College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

The University’s anatomy collection,
now known as the Anatomy Resource Centre, was founded by the Munro
family. The Munro ‘dynasty’ consisted of three generations who
collectively held the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh
for 126 years. The collection truly flourished under Sir William
Turner, Professor of Anatomy from 1867 to 1903, who as particularly
interested in comparative anatomy, anthropology and craniology. Read more »

Alan Nichol is your guide to this year’s Edinburgh International Science Festival

The quality of this city’s science
festival always reminds you, after a long winter, why Edinburgh is
such an inspiring place to live. Founded in 1989, it’s the oldest
and one of the largest science festivals around. It comprises a
dizzying number and variety of events spanning the city. Between the
9th and 22nd of April venues like the City Art
Centre, the Royal Botanical Gardens, The Edinburgh Zoo, the Royal
Observatory, and others will host workshops, talks, screenings,
shows, sleepovers (yes, really!), games, courses, and events which
defy classification. Like the summer festivals the problem can be an
overload of choice, but unlike in August, you probably have some
exams this month. Although you have to be economical with your time,
the Edinburgh International Science Festival is simply too good to
miss. Read more »

Emily's distant words
I will now more than ever hold dear. However, during these difficult
times they aren't as reassuring as they might be, mainly because I
have never been sure what exactly it is that made me me.

My name is Albert
McCulloch, I am the Executive Director to the Institute's Scotland
Central Division. Edinburgh born and educated. Top of the University
of Edinburgh's Institute training program 2063 and later the youngest
practitioner in the then-newly-formed Institute. Now a household name
for my pioneering of the Institute's values. “It is the Institute’s
aim that all men should be perfect men” –paragraph 1, preamble.

The uterus is a key player in all aspects of mammalian reproduction, from ovulation to birth. None of us would be here without it and half the population have one, so why are the mechanisms behind some of its main functions still shroudedin mystery?
Read more »

Creating
new knowledge is the aim of research, and communicating this
knowledge is done through scientific publishing. Top-tier scientific
journals such as Nature,
Cell
or
Science
are the mediators of the experimental results and follow an editorial
process where peer review is a key step to qualify a paper for
publication. Peer review is the system whereby experts (peers) in a
field of research analyse and criticise scientific results prior to
publication. The scientists that scrutinise the papers are called
reviewers or referees and usually do this work out of goodwill,
without any reward. Peer review is meant to be a quality control
benefiting the research community, which validates the discoveries.
Nowadays, it seems to have taken another turn, making it a quite an
unpleasant experience for many researchers.
Read more »

“Chemistry? Scary!” or “That’s
difficult, I never understood it at school.” These are typical
responses from people who ask what I do. It makes me sad that others
struggled with the subject. Perhaps I was lucky to have a great
teacher, because from the age of fifteen I was hooked. Chemistry was
for me. Thirteen years later I’ve completed a Masters degree, a PhD
in chemistry and now work as a post-doctorate on solar energy in
Edinburgh University’s School of Chemistry.

Chemistry became fascinating to me when
I discovered that it explains everything that happens around us. I am
one of those people who hates watching magicians do their tricks and
not knowing how they did it. If I do find out the secret, I’m
disappointed it was so simple and sometimes feel a bit silly to have
fallen for the illusion. Read more »

Emmeline Hoogland suggests a diet, not only for you, but also for the planet

This age will be
known as the age of challenges. Mankind will face the consequences of
climate change and population growth among other issues. To lead our
growing population safely into the next century, our generation will
have to make changes. According to Live Earth, “Not eating meat is
the single most important thing you can do to decrease your impact.”
Could it be that easy? Can changing to a vegetarian life-style be
enough to ensure a sustainable future for mankind?

The world population
is approximately 6.7 billion, 1 billion of which don’t have enough
food. Worldwide, 15 million square kilometres are filled with crops,
40% of which is fed to livestock. A field of crops can feed
five times more people than a field of cows: for every kilogram of
beef, 5 kilograms of grain is used. It sounds like something too good
to be true: feed the people crops not livestock and nobody would
suffer from malnutrition. Is it really that straightforward? Read more »

In
the past decade, cooking has been hailed as an art form, with a focus
on taste and presentation. However, to produce palatable food there
is arguably a scientific aspect to cooking as well. Is a kitchen not
just a lab where, instead of clinical white coats, the scientists
wear aprons? And do recipes not draw many parallels to protocols?
This got me thinking, as a biochemist, about the science involved in
turning popular ingredients, flour, yeast and eggs, into the ultimate
breakfast treat: dippy eggs and soldiers.

For
the soldiers

Flour
is the key component in bread; its composition is dependent on the
type of grain and the milling processes. Bread is one of the world’s
oldest recorded baked foods, dating back from the Stone Age. To make
leaven bread, yeast must be included to make the dough rise. Without
yeast, bread would resemble hard, flat little cakes.
Read more »